Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) Short Interest Up 31.0% in March

Sealed Air Co. (NYSE:SEE) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,980,000 shares, an increase of 31.0% from the February 28th total of 6,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Sealed Air Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SEE stock traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $29.02. 1,705,010 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,493,386. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.32. Sealed Air has a 12 month low of $28.37 and a 12 month high of $41.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.62.

Sealed Air (NYSE:SEE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. Sealed Air had a return on equity of 74.21% and a net margin of 7.34%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sealed Air will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Sealed Air Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Sealed Air’s payout ratio is 44.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SEE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Sealed Air from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sealed Air from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sealed Air from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Sealed Air from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.25.

Insider Transactions at Sealed Air

In other news, Director Henry R. Keizer acquired 1,120 shares of Sealed Air stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.00 per share, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,050,000. This represents a 3.31 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sealed Air

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SEE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Sealed Air by 168.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 466,785 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,791,000 after purchasing an additional 292,826 shares in the last quarter. QSM Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Sealed Air in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,565,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Sealed Air during the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sealed Air during the 4th quarter worth approximately $372,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sealed Air in the 4th quarter valued at $301,000. Institutional investors own 94.40% of the company’s stock.

Sealed Air Company Profile

Sealed Air Corporation provides packaging solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates through two segments, Food and Protective. The Food segment offers integrated packaging materials and automation equipment solutions to provide food safety, shelf life extension, reduce food waste, automate processes, and optimize total cost for food processors in the fresh red meat, smoked and processed meats, poultry, seafood, plant-based, fluids and liquids and cheese markets under the CRYOVAC, CRYOVAC Grip & Tear, CRYOVAC Darfresh, LIQUIBOX, Simple Steps, and Optidure brands.